Track athlete Usain Bolt and actress Hayden Panettiere are celebrating their birthdays today.
Usain Bolt, 28
image courtesy of William T. Wade Jr/INFevents.com
Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt turns 28 today. Widely known as the fastest person ever, Bolt is the first man to hold both the 100 metres and 200 metres world records. In the 4x100 meter relay, Bolt and his teammates also set the world record. Bolt is the first man to win six Olympic gold medals in sprinting, and an eight-time World champion. He was the first to achieve a "double double" by winning both the 100 meter and 200 meter titles at consecutive Olympics games in 2008 and 2012. However, he topped that feat by earning the first "double triple" when including the 4×100 meter relays.
Bolt has had more victories as a 200 meter runner. Prior to the 2008 Olympics, he had won numerous crowns in the 200 meter event at the youth, junior and senior levels. At the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, Bolt won his third straight gold in the 200 meter event. He also broke his 2009 record for the 100 meter event from 9.69 seconds to 9.58 seconds.
Bolt's achievements in sprinting have earned him the media nickname "Lightning Bolt." He won numerous awards including the IAAF World Athlete of the Year, Track & Field Athlete of the Year, and Laureus World Sportsman of the Year three times. By winning three gold medals at the 2013 World Championships, Bolt became one of the most successful athletes in the 30-year history of the athletics world championships.
Hayden Panettiere, 25
image courtesy of Jennifer Graylock/INFphoto.com
Actress, model, singer, voice actress and activist Hayden Panettiere turns 25 today. Panettiere first appeared in commercials at the age of 11 months, beginning with an advertisement for a Playskool toy train. She then landed a role as Sarah Roberts on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live from 1994 to 1997, which was followed by Lizzie Spaulding on the CBS soap opera Guiding Light in 1996, and again from 1997 to 2000.
In 1999, Panettiere starred in the Lifetime Television movie If You Believe, and earned a Young Artist Award nomination for Young Actress Age Ten or Under in the category of Best Performance in a TV Movie or Pilot. Panettiere then appeared on Fox's Ally McBeal, had a recurring guest role on Malcolm in the Middle and guest starred in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in two different roles.
Panettiere has appeared in over a dozen full-length feature films, making her debut in A Bug's Life. In 1999, she appeared in Message In A Bottle, and she played the role of Coach Yoast's daughter, Sheryl, in the 2000 Disney film Remember the Titans. She also starred in Bring It On: All or Nothing, Shanghai Kiss, Raising Helen, Ice Princess and Racing Stripes.
Panettiere gained the most success after playing Claire Bennet in the NBC series Heroes.
Panettiere is currently engaged to heavyweight boxing world champion Wladimir Klitschko. They are expecting their first child. Panettiere most recently stars in the ABC musical drama series Nashville as Juliette Barnes.